XCR’16: Double delight for open men at Anglesea Ekiden

Athletics Essendon’s open men kept their hopes of a double winter premiership alive with dual victories at the Anglesea Ekiden Relays on Saturday.

A brilliant run from Hayelom Dawit (17min 4sec) secured victory for the Division 2 team, with the up-and-coming junior reeling in Western Athletics’ Indiana Cooper over the final stages of his 4.9km leg to stop the clock in 2hr 35min 8sec for the 44.1km event made up of six legs of varying lengths.

The team enjoyed a see-sawing battle with Western Athletics all day, with juniors Dawit, Muse Tesema and Zach Mottram all stepping up to the open ranks and putting in strong performances to combine beautifully with Mitchel Brown, Toby O’Brien and Asmelash Tesema.

The result was purely academic for the Division 2 team, which entered the race with a near unassailable 17-point lead in Athletics Victoria’s 2016 season of cross country and road racing (XCR’16), but the Division 4 team took to the line needing a win to feel confident of staying in their title hunt.

It achieved it in emphatic style, with Damien Bruneau, Charlie Blanch, Danny Hawksworth, Daniel White and Walid A-Kurtu clocking 2:35:33 for their 39.2km relay to take victory by more than four minutes.

The team now trails Williamstown by three points and will need to win the two remaining rounds to be guaranteed the Division 4 premiership.

Also taking victory for Essendon was the under 20 women’s outfit of Emilie Guy, Emma Files and Sarah Guy, which clocked 1:20:48 for its 20km relay, while the under 18 women finished second in their 19.4km event and the Division 2 women fourth in their 29.5km event.

The XCR’16 season continues on Sunday, September 4 with the Burnley Half Marathon.